Awesome Movie Year

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1953 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, Biblical epic The Robe . Directed by Henry Koster, based on the novel by Lloyd C. Douglas and starring Richard Burton, Victor Mature, Jean Simmons and Michael Rennie, The Robe was the first movie released in CinemaScope. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from A...

    NOTE: This episode is a timed exclusive over on our producer David Rosen’s Patreon. Sign up to one of the tiers for access to this bonus episode and more great content from us, Piecing It Together, All Rice No Beans and David Rosen.  https://www.patreon.com/bydavidrosen   This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features Rob Reiner’s  A Few Good...

In the third of three special Halloween episodes this year, we’re looking back to our season on the awesome movie year of 1980 to talk about Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining . Directed and co-written by Stanley Kubrick (based on the Stephen King novel) and starring Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd and Scatman Crothers, The Shining opened to mixed response but has since become a horror clas...

In the second of three special Halloween episodes this year, we’re looking back to our season on the awesome movie year of 1999, to talk about horror comedy Idle Hands . Directed by Rodman Flender from a screenplay by Terri Hughes and Ron Milbauer and starring Devon Sawa, Seth Green, Elden Henson, Jessica Alba, Jack Noseworthy and Vivica A. Fox, Idle Hands was a semi-finalist in our 1999 audience...

In the first of three special Halloween episodes this year, we’re continuing with 1992, the year we covered in our most recent season, to talk about Robert Zemeckis’ Death Becomes Her . Directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay by David Koepp and Martin Donovan and starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis and Isabella Rossellini, Death Becomes Her won an Oscar for its pioneering specia...

NOTE: This episode was a timed exclusive over on our producer David Rosen's Patreon. Sign up to one of the tiers for access to bonus episodes and more great content from us, Piecing It Together, and David Rosen. https://www.patreon.com/bydavidrosen This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1980 features Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull . Directed by Martin Scorsese from a...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1992, we talk about alternate movies we considered including in all of our different categories this season, and read suggestions from some listeners about which movies they hoped we would cover. Visit https://www.awesomemovieyear.com for more info about the show. Make sure to like Awesome Movie Year on Facebook at  http://www.facebo...

The finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features our audience choice pick, Paul Verhoeven’s Basic Instinct . Directed by Paul Verhoeven from a script by Joe Eszterhas and starring Michael Douglas, Sharon Stone, Jeanne Tripplehorn and George Dzundza, Basic Instinct prevailed over two other movies about femme fatales in our 1992 audience choice poll. The contemporary reviews quote...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features our future cult classic pick, Bobcat Goldthwait’s Shakes the Clown . Written and directed by Bobcat Goldthwait and starring Goldthwait, Julie Brown, Tom Kenny, Blake Clark and Adam Sandler, Shakes the Clown was a critical and commercial failure that has since been reappraised and appreciated by a cult audience. The contem...

The eleventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features our producer David Rosen’s pick, Peter Jackson’s Dead Alive . Directed and co-written by Peter Jackson and starring Timothy Balme, Diana Peñalver, Elizabeth Moody and Ian Watkin, Dead Alive was Jackson’s third feature and the end of his “splatter” period. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from David St...

The tenth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features the Academy Awards Best Picture winner, Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven . Directed by Clint Eastwood from a script by David Webb Peoples and starring Eastwood, Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Jaimz Woolvett, Richard Harris, Frances Fisher and Saul Rubinek, Unforgiven was nominated for nine Oscars and won four, including Best Pict...

The ninth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize winner, Alexandre Rockwell’s In the Soup . Directed and co-written by Alexandre Rockwell and starring Steve Buscemi, Seymour Cassel, Jennifer Beals, Will Patton and Pat Moya, In the Soup won two awards at Sundance in 1992. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from...

The eighth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features Jason’s personal pick, Kenneth Branagh’s Peter’s Friends. Directed by Kenneth Branagh from a screenplay by Rita Rudner and Martin Bergman and starring Stephen Fry, Emma Thompson, Kenneth Branagh, Hugh Laurie and Imelda Staunton, Peter’s Friends was Branagh’s third film as a director. The contemporary reviews quoted in this...

The seventh episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features our foreign film pick, Belgian mockumentary Man Bites Dog. Directed by, co-written by and starring Rémy Belvaux, André Bonzel and Benoît Poelvoorde, Man Bites Dog premiered at the 1992 Cannes Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times ( https://www.latim...

The sixth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features Josh’s personal pick, Saturday Night Live adaptation Wayne’s World. Directed by Penelope Spheeris and starring Mike Myers, Dana Carvey, Tia Carerre and Rob Lowe, Wayne’s World is based on the popular SNL characters Wayne and Garth, created by Mike Myers. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert...

The fifth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features our documentary pick, Ron Fricke’s Baraka. Directed and photographed by Ron Fricke, Baraka was filmed in locations around the world, on six continents over a period of 14 months. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/baraka-1993 ), Hal Hinson in  The...

The fourth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features a Cannes Film Festival award winner, Robert Altman’s The Player. Directed by Robert Altman from a screenplay by Michael Tolkin and starring Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Cynthia Stevenson, Fred Ward and Peter Gallagher, The Player won two top awards at Cannes in 1992. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from...

The third episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features the year’s biggest flop, Barry Levinson’s Toys. Directed and co-written by Barry Levinson and starring Robin Williams, Joan Cusack, Michael Gambon, Robin Wright and LL Cool J, Toys was nominated for awards at both the Razzies and the Oscars. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Roger Ebert ( https://www...

The second episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features our pick for a notable filmmaking debut, Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Chris Penn, Reservoir Dogs premiered at the 1992 Sundance Film Festival. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode come from Ro...

The first episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1992 features the highest-grossing film at the box office, Disney’s Aladdin. Directed and co-written by John Musker and Ron Clements and starring the voices of Scott Weinger, Linda Larkin, Robin Williams, Jonathan Freeman, Douglas Seale and Gilbert Gottfried, Aladdin grossed $504.1 million and won two Oscars. The contemporary reviews quo...

NOTE: This episode was a timed exclusive over on our producer David Rosen's Patreon. Sign up to one of the tiers for access to this bonus episode and more great content from us, Piecing It Together, All Rice No Beans and David Rosen. https://www.patreon.com/bydavidrosen For this bonus episode of our special retrospective season, we’re looking back to our season on the awesome movie year of 1999, t...

This special bonus episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1980 features Star Wars sequel The Empire Strikes Back . Directed by Irvin Kershner from a screenplay by Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan and starring Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels and Frank Oz, The Empire Strikes Back was the highest-grossing movie of 1980 and helped establish Star Wars as a pop-c...

In this epilogue to our season on the awesome movie year of 1980, we talk about alternate movies we considered including in all of our different categories this season, and read suggestions from some listeners about which movies they hoped we would cover. Please like, share, rate and comment on the show and this episode, and tune in soon for the premiere of our twelfth season, featuring the awesom...

The finale of our season on the awesome movie year of 1980 features our audience choice pick, John Carpenter’s The Fog . Directed and co-written by John Carpenter and starring Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Atkins, Janet Leigh, Ty Mitchell and Hal Holbrook, The Fog prevailed over two other 1980 horror classics in our audience choice poll. The contemporary reviews quoted in this episode co...

The twelfth episode of our season on the awesome movie year of 1980 features our future cult classic pick, William Friedkin’s Cruising . Written and directed by William Friedkin (based on the novel by Gerald Walker) and starring Al Pacino, Paul Sorvino, Karen Allen, Richard Cox and Don Scardino, Cruising was met with controversy and criticism on its release but has since been reassessed and apprec...